#dream_journal

The dream revolved around a sort of box. It was a saving stuff box it was like a wishing box.

You focused on your mind the wish you wanted to make true, and then you pressed two switches or buttons, simultaneously, and the thing became true instantly.

A friendly figure was responsible of using the box quite a few time in favor of us (I was with friends and family at the time)

After some run-ins with police we knew that the friendly guy was trying to help a lot of people, and of course that bothered police (ACAB even in my dreams lol)

While being "under questioning" I found that they had a replica of the machine he was using. It was missing a button so it didnt work.

But it had a simple way to fix it and I had to use it to help a man hurt and involved in an accident.

The man that helped came to talk and told me a few thing about the nature of helping, while I told him about the nature of caring. It was an interesting talk that I cant remember well enough sadly.

That's about the time I woke up.

Not as funky as previous dreams but there's the thing that it was cut short so that sucks xD

Chapter Two: The Glowy Bounty Hunters.

While still studying the Journal, we could hear Gizmo going to the kitchen, sound of the TV and the door opening. Often, Ben comes in the morning to watch the news with him. I believe they just love cussing while commenting on the collapsing economy. Actually, they say there is none anymore. And that the world is chaos. Today was no different. They were debating over freshly brewed coffee and bagels, we could smell upstairs. That's when we have decided to take a break. It took us the whole night to create sort of a mind map of what we knew so far. And we knew quite a lot after reading just a couple of paragraphs.

We've decided to reward our hard work with bagels and espresso, so we headed downstairs. As we were around the corner, we've heard a gunshot. We peeked from behind the wall. In front of the door were two men in weird, glowy suits with one-blasters. Or One-One's, if you will, as that's how many attempts someone needs, to wipe you out. Ben and Gizmo grabbed not so advanced,  in fact, now already antique shotguns.

One of the men declared, without beating around the bush:

-Frederico Russo, you are under arrest.

-I didn't do anything.- not-guilty was surely confused by such allegations. Especially before coffee.

-You're a prime suspect in our investigation. Someone broke into the Ministry Headquarters last night-another man in gray stated.

-If you think it was me, you're mistaken. That has to be a mistake, I was at the diner all night...-Gizmo tried to explain himself, but men in glowy suits weren't here to listen. We all knew that he used to be an active member of the resistance movement, to say the least, and that even the smallest acts of rebellion mattered for him. But since Dani and I were here, he became passive, as it would put us all in danger, and he promised my parents to protect me with his heart and soul. Never said that about Dani, but I know he would do the same. Either way, one thing is for sure, that we've heard him go to his bedroom last night, soon after we run upstairs with the Journal and didn't hear a thing until the very morning. But even the most credible evidence meant nothing at that moment. What could four suburban folks do against government pawns with the order for an Italian troublemaker, carrying deadly one-one's. Probably the only thing I'm really scared of. One of many messed up things about our times. We're not scared of heights or spiders anymore. We are scared of technology, and what it could bring. This time it brought chaos to the Leak. The grey duo grew impatient, and in a matter of seconds wrecked our front door and got in. One almost got Gizmo, but Ben served the guy fabulous riffle on the back of his head. The second rushed at Ben but didn't stand a chance against Gizmo's favorite frying pan.

-Accidenti mezza sega- those words resonated throughout the entire diner as he noticed his big skillet being dented.

A few moments later, unconscious men were laying, tied down in our broom closet, as we were munching on our bagels. The silence reigned in the room. Pretending nothing has happened didn't really work.

But it did not seem like a good time to add up to already quite an unpleasant morning either. However, last night's discovery couldn't remain secret for any longer. It was in fact, becoming dangerous.

-It was one of us- I just spat it out.

-...we've got a government spy in the gang- Dani clarified.

Those sentences made some eyebrows rise.

-What are you two talking about?- Italian folk paid more attention to us now than the espresso. Dani smacked the table with the Journal.

-From what we know so far, after being a victim themselves, the author wants to play back on the system.- I burst out.

-That's what our pack is all about! Am I right?- he was completely missing our point. Was he doing it on purpose?

-Yeah, but the revenge part is...-you could notice Dani's distress while running fingers through his curly hair-...becoming the Overlord.

-If they're one of us, what's the problem? Maybe that would bring some justice in the New World-then Gizmo giggled kindly-Ah, kiddos, I know, the morning was all stress, but now you can let your guards down a little. It's most likely some crack-head fantasizing about their version of a better world. Hard to blame them. I dream of some utopian scenarios too, and- I just cut him off at the very beginning of something, that seemed like a philosophical monologue:

-You don't understand. If the journal tells the truth, this author climbs up the ladder by selling pretty sensitive information about mobs like ours...

-...so the ministry has everyone on the hook. And everything is in here.- the curly-haired boy looked down.

-Gimme that book.- the worried man grabbed the volume and skimmed through a few pages. You could see from his face, that he finally understood, though remained silent for a few more moments, before looking at Ben, and then at us. Then he announced:

-Ladies and gentlemen, we have a double-crosser in our gang- he pressed the journal to my chest, on his way to the kitchen. None of us knew how to cheer him up after news like that. A hug? Some chocolate? Fettuccine? Apparently, it was not necessary. He yelled from the kitchen while reloading a gun:

-Ben! Watcha waiting for? We have a place to visit! I think I know, who could the mole be.

Just a few moments later, after starting Ben's old pick-up engine, some old-school rock blasted from the speakers.

And they drove away, leaving a dusty trail behind them.

go to Chapter Three: A Little Trip.

____________________

Chapter One: The Dream Journal.

I was driving my ATV back home, as the sun was already setting. I knew what it meant. I'm late again. Gizmo is going to lose his... beans. The only thing left is to pray he's busy in the kitchen, and not going to see me sneaking in. Right behind the corner, I could see the Leak's neon already. I'm so close, and the sun didn't quite set yet. I'm safe. Well, good to be an optimist. But Gizmo isn't. Or at least not to the same degree as me for believing I could get away with it... again. As I arrived at the parking, the door has opened.

-Bria! It's hella late. What did I tell you?! Get back before it gets dark!- as I said, he's just like an angel.-Get inside!

-I know, I know... But look what I found!- handed him my backpack, as I was taking off my moody shoes right behind the door.

-Let me see... another mirror. What does this one do? Makes you see what does the Snow White do?- he didn't get to finish, as I interfered:

-It makes you see your deepest fears, to be exact. But close enough.

-Ladies and Gentlemen, the list goes on.-he continued- Dusty book, another dusty book... oh look, another-he stopped there- wait a second.

He was looking at a strange volume with white feathers on the cover. I thought its only value is looking weird, and nothing besides that, but I just couldn't stay indifferent to anything, that's owl-related.

-Hello? Anybody there? Gizmo is required back on board of the "Leak". Do you copy?- I've tried to get him back from the mind trip.

-Roger that...-he said, although he was still on board of his thought train.

-The Dream Journal. Pretty weird, huh? I couldn't resist to take it with me, though. I mean, OWLS.  But it's most likely a tacky piece of trash.

-Sorta. Although, I'm tipping my hat because it looks almost-convincing - Gizmo smiles the slightest.

-I'm not following... -I narrowed my eyes and pressed lips together, still looking at him cleaning the buffet.

-Long story short, the original Dream Journal was a set of rules to follow by everyone in the New World to create the utopian system that would make everyone live a long and happy life. But this one is some sort of drama novel. So yeah- you're right, its nothing more than a piece of trash. The mirror though... I think we can easily get 75 bucks for that little precious. Good job, kid.-he patted me on the shoulder.

Then, all of a sudden, Dani rushed downstairs and sat next to me by the counter.

-I couldn't help, but overheard 'good job, kid' and felt called out.- he did his ridiculous 'fancy-Englishman' face.

-As if you had done anything today to deserve such praise - I couldn't help but point out his overall laziness.

-Well, okay so I suppose, if you check your phone right now, you won't find anything being fixed.- he seemed offended, this time no joke.

So I took out my tired of life device and was stunned. This jerk improved my GPS. How nice of him. I really won't be able to get over it for a long time. I know Dani is a really helpful guy and all, but it's always a surprise how such an obnoxious being can do such a nice thing. Extra points for doing it voluntarily, without making the person begging for help.

-Yeah, YOU'RE WELCOME, BRIA.-then he looked at Gizmo-So anyway, what do you serve tonight, chef?

-Just wait for it.-he smiled wide, and disappeared in the kitchen door.

-What's that garbage?-Dani pointed at the stack of books.

-Books? Have you ever heard of it? Like, you know... reading and stuff- I kept mocking him

-Come on, the weird one.-he smiled, in a Dani- level cheeky way - Lemme see.

What else would I do? I just laid the journal in front of us, and we began reading. Or at least I did. I'm still doubting his reading abilities. The silence didn't last for long. What we just found out was so groundbreaking, we had to take the action immediately. If that turned out to be true...

go to Chapter Two: The Glowy Bounty Hunters.

I only remember fragments of this one and there are many missing pieces.

I was in a rocket ship ready to launch from the Earth with my astronaut partner. Thoughts and worries were racing in my head. I got very, very anxious at the idea of being hurled into space in a giant rocket. The countdown finished and  with a very loud WHIRRRR I felt everything shake and gravity getting more and more intense. At this point the experience was absolute hell, but I slowly got over it and rationalized to myself and out loud to my partner: “This is cool, you know? We’ll get to finally be in space. I think we made it.” only to then discover that my partner chickened out and actually redirected the rocket to fly around in the atmosphere. I could sense his fear. We fought over the controls and eventually crashlanded in a forest.

The fact that I survived the crash led me to believe I was dreaming. I tried levitating above the ground and it worked. I told my partner to fuck off and went flying away. It proved to be a pretty daunting task to fly in a straight line. I kept swerving and falling and crashing into trees. I got to my parents’ old house and enjoyed a night sleeping on the roof.

While doing so, I began dreaming again, this time inside the house. My family was gathered around the table having a meaningless conversation, so I headed upstairs where it was completely dark. Trying to turn on the light didn’t work. I identified this as a recurring setting in my dreams; trying to turn on a light in a dark room and it not working, followed by a monster that leaps from the darkness and gets me. I knew I was still dreaming and escaping wouldn’t work. I felt the weight of its gaze from inside the black room and wasn’t taking it anymore, so I focused all my rage and expelled it out of my entire body, destroying the entire universe around me in a bright colorful wave of light and energy.

I guess at this point I blew a fuse because everything became a cartoon. It looked really old timey and grungy. I was a caveman standing at where the water barely touches the shore on a prehistoric beach. A small purple slime creature with big beady black eyes emerged from a cave in the distance and ran towards me. When it reached me, it garbled something incomprehensible and hopped into a nearby cave. I followed it.

I was working in a very picturesque geometric office full of faceless peers. The only thing that could be seen outside the window was sky blue in every direction. I believe I had been working on a problem for a very long time, and eventually lost my mind trying to solve it.

The office building was full of monsters resembling gorillas with sharp fangs. I grabbed a pistol from under the table and shot them as they lunged towards me. After I killed each one, it would turn into a dead person. After a little while I realized the monsters were an illusion and I was, in reality, shooting every office worker dead. I couldn’t stop or else they would get me.

I ran outside of the door. It was a scenic courtyard; a concrete pit with a single large slab in the center and some stairs winding around to get up to the top. There was a helicopter drone whizzing far above my head. The area was full of monsters, too, but instead of trying to kill them all in fear of killing anyone else, I ran up the stairs to the top of the concrete slab and jumped to grab a hold of the drone. It flew me away to a wall that had red tentacles protruding from it.

I lept from the drone and grabbed on to the tentacles, then climbed up to the wall opening. Looking inside, there was some kind of lovecraftian horror slowly making its way through the opening of a portal. I was fascinated at the time and tugged on its tentacles a bit more. The creature’s face surfaced from the portal and screamed at me, “What do you think you’re doing??”

After a little episode of sleep paralysis I managed to finally find myself in a vivid lucid dream.

I was in my parents' house alone in my room. All the lights were off and it was completely dark. I walked out into the hallway and flipped the lightswitch on, only to discover it didn't work. This has always been a recurring pattern in my dreams and I never realized it before. Knowing that I was dreaming, I threw my hand out in front of me, screamed "light!" at the top of my (dream) lungs, and sure enough I could use my own arm as my personal flashlight. It was really cool to wave it around all over the walls for a while, but I got bored and eventually stepped outside.